Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Rachel Laura Brown (born 2 July 1980) is an English footballer, currently playing as goalkeeper for Everton Ladies and England Women. She is also the goalkeeper on Five's Superstars and works for Everton's Community Project.
Early Life
Rachel was born in Burnley, Lancashire, attending St Christopher's CE High School in Accrington. She began playing football at primary school, in a boys' team.
Career
Club
After a few years of not playing in a team, due to FA rules on mixed teams, Brown joined Accrington Stanley L.F.C.. Just after her 15th birthday she joined Liverpool Ladies and soon after made her first team debut. One of Brown’s early career highlights saw her take part in the 1996 FA Women’s Cup Final at 15 years old with Liverpool.
She remained with Liverpool while completing her A-levels, after which she moved to the United States where she initially played for the University of Alabama. In 2000 she transferred to the University of Pittsburgh Panthers while she completed a degree in Sports Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She was named Goalkeeper of the Year for the Eastern Conference every year and also holds the Panthers' record for the least goals conceded in a season.
On returning to Liverpool she qualified as a PE Teacher at Liverpool John Moores University and joined Everton Ladies in January 2003. She spent the 2003 summer season playing in Iceland, returning to Everton in August 2003. In December 2003 she suffered a serious knee injury that kept her out of the game until June 2005.
In May 2009, Brown was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by the Football Association.
International
Brown played eight times for the England Under-18 side before making her senior debut in February 1997 against Germany. After impressing at her hometown club Burnley, where she had been a season-ticket holder as a child as England beat Australia 1-0 in September 2003, she was asked to turn on the Christmas lights in Burnley – but she had to cancel as she was playing for England as they beat Scotland 5-0 in November at nearby Preston. After a long spell out with injury, Brown returned to the England team against Sweden in the last group game of Women’s Euro 2005. Rachel started every game of England's women's 2009 campaign.